TEHRAN - Iran exported 56,000 tons of gasoline, valued at $52 million, in the first eleven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2012-February 18, 2013), the Fars News Agency reported.

The figure showed 100 percent increase compared to the same period in the previous year despite sanctions which have been imposed against the country.

Meanwhile, on February 4, Iranian MP Mehdi Mousavinejad said that cutting gasoline imports in the current time is not feasible, because domestic production does not meet demands, the YJC news website reported.

The country has not reached self-sufficiency in gasoline production, he said, adding that cutting gasoline imports will damage the transportation sector.

At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.

U.S. sanctions entered into force on June 28, while EU bans on Iranian oil imports came into force on July 1.

In October, the EU approved another major package of economic sanctions on Iran.

In October 2012, ISNA quoted National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company’s managing director Alireza Zeighami as saying that Iran is currently producing 25 million liters of premium gasoline per day, meeting euro-4 and euro-5 standards.

The country’s gasoline output is projected to hit 70 million liters per day by the end of the next Iranian calendar year, he added.

He also said that diesel oil output will reach 95 million liters per day by the end of the current Iranian year, of which 25 million liters meet euro-4 and euro-5 standards.

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